NASA releases geologic maps of asteroid Vesta

[LongTomH]

NASA/JPL has released geologic maps of Vesta using data from the Dawn spacecraft:

Geological mapping is a technique used to derive the geologic history of a planetary object from detailed analysis of surface morphology, topography, color and brightness information. A team of 14 scientists mapped the surface of Vesta using Dawn spacecraft data, led by three NASA-funded participating scientists: David A. Williams of Arizona State University, Tempe; R. Aileen Yingst of the Planetary Science Institute, Tucson, Arizona; and W. Brent Garry of the NASA Goddard Spaceflight Center, Greenbelt, Maryland.

Geological mapping is a technique used to derive the geologic history of a planetary object from detailed analysis of surface morphology, topography, color and brightness information. A team of 14 scientists mapped the surface of Vesta using Dawn spacecraft data, led by three NASA-funded participating scientists: David A. Williams of Arizona State University, Tempe; R. Aileen Yingst of the Planetary Science Institute, Tucson, Arizona; and W. Brent Garry of the NASA Goddard Spaceflight Center, Greenbelt, Maryland.

Scientists discovered through these maps that impacts from several large meteorites have shaped Vesta's history. Asteroids like Vesta are remnants of the formation of the solar system, giving scientists a peek at its history. Asteroids could also harbor molecules that are the building blocks of life and reveal clues about the origins of life on Earth.

read more at: http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.php?feature=4381

[PeoViejo]

1. Meanwhile, back on Earth....n/t

[ret5hd]

3. I am sorry you are so uninterested.

[True Blue Door]

5. ...one particular Earthling is being myopic and ridiculous.

[ffr]

2. I wished I could work for NASA. I eat this stuff up.

Science and discovery.

[True Blue Door]

4. Dawn arrives at Ceres in just three months!

First up-close view of a dwarf planet.

Plus it's covered in ice, so it should look plenty different from Vesta apart from being spheroidal.